The Q and the Grey
In the Q Continuum '' |image= |series= |production=40840-153 |producer(s)= |story= Shawn Piller |script= Kenneth Biller |director=Cliff Bole |imdbref=tt0708987 |guests=John de Lancie as Q''', Suzie Plakson as '''Miss Q and Harve Presnell as Colonel Q |previous_production=Warlord |next_production=Macrocosm |episode=VGR S03E11 |airdate=27 November 1996 |previous_release=(VGR) Warlord (Overall) The Ascent |next_release=Macrocosm |story_date(s)=50384.2-50392.7 (2373) |previous_story=The Ascent |next_story= Star Trek First Contact Rapture }} Summary Captain Kathryn Janeway is surprised when Q appears in her quarters – and in her bed – one night. Q is intent on Janeway becoming the mother of his child, and plies the Captain with gifts in an attempt to win her affections, such as an Irish Setter puppy. Janeway is not amused, and demands that Q leave immediately. Q is persistent, claiming that he could have chosen any female in the galaxy and that his desire for Janeway should be regarded as an honor. Janeway continues to insist that Q leave, and eventually he does. However, Q's absence does not last long, as he abducts the captain and takes her to the Q Continuum, now appearing as an American Civil War period piece, with Q dressed in the uniform of a Union officer and Janeway herself as clothed in the attire of the era. Confederate soldiers fire on them, and Q is wounded – surprising Janeway. Q's sense of urgency becomes apparent: There is a real civil war brewing among the Q race, and Q hopes that he and Janeway can bring a child into the Continuum (which has not had a natural birth in billions of years and Q claims they have always existed) to avert the war. Q explains that the civil war started because of him – he leads a faction of the Q which advocates individual freedom, rather than the status quo enforced by the Q at large. Q shows Janeway the carnage that the war has inflicted on his group (represented by a refugee camp in which hundreds of wounded Q, all appearing as Union soldiers, are suffering). The fighting breaks out again, and the Q authorities (represented as Confederate soldiers) arrive and capture Q and Janeway. The Q leader, appearing as a Confederate colonel, intends to execute them both, to serve as an example to the rest of Q's freedom faction. On Voyager, the remaining crew have been observing dozens of supernovae taking place throughout the area — many more than should be occurring. A Q female arrives and says that the civil war among the Q is the cause. The female Q is abrasive and insulting to the crew, and she explains that she is Q's ex-wife. As the civil war continues to rage, the female Q realizes she has lost her powers, and is forced to enlist the aid of the Voyager crew. She helps them reach the Q Continuum by flying into a supernova, and provides the Voyager crew with Q weapons which they use to free Q and Janeway. Q and his wife resume their relationship and decide to become parents themselves, thus providing the Q Continuum with "new blood" which they hope will revitalize the species. Captain Janeway is witness to the two Q mating, which means they simply touch fingers, causing a flash similar to the effect used when a Q conjures something up. A moment later Q tells his wife he knows he was good. "That's it?!" a baffled Janeway asks. "You had your chance," Q jokingly responds. Q returns later to Janeway's quarters with his son and asks her to be his godmother, which she accepts. Errors and Explanations Nit Central # Anonymous on Sunday, April 04, 1999 - 11:22 am: Q states twice that the Q have never mated with each other - but what about the ST next Gen episode...… Aaron Dotter on Sunday, April 04, 1999 - 6:02 pm: As I understand it, those Q who mated to produce Amanda Rogers were considered outcasts or something, so the Continuum does not count that. # D.K. Henderson on Thursday, June 03, 1999 - 5:26 am: What did this lady Q think of Q running around the Gamma Quadrant for two years with Vash? cableface on Friday, June 11, 1999 - 2:52 pm: Well, i think she said they had been together for about 10,000 years.So letting Q disappear for a year or two would probably be equivalent to a woman letting her husband go to vegas for a weekend.and i don't think he and Vash ever......you know....(i could come up with many colorful metaphors at this point, but i doubt they would be appreciated) Mandy on Friday, December 31, 1999 - 4:35 pm: Actually, I think Suzy Q said she'd been associated with our Q for 5 billion years. I did find the statement "the Q have always existed" interesting. One wonders just what happened at the beginning of the "new era" (as referenced by Quinn earlier) and what they were like before, not to mention how they managed to be present for the Big Bang. But then again, time seems to be a somewhat artificial construct we mere mortals experience (sort of like centrifugal force, which doesn't actually exist; it's just a by-product of inertia). The Prophets certainly don't seem to have much of a handle on it. So perhaps when the Q came into existence it was a universal sort of thing: all times and all places simultaneously. # Spockania on Monday, October 23, 2000 - 5:36 pm: Q mentions a Romulan Empress- I thought the Romulan government was governed by a Senate these days? Or is it a constitutional monarchy? Perhaps it’s like Ancient Rome, which also had an Emperor and a senate. # When Q refuses to surrender he shelters behind a wall while bullets come through the window. Bullets could easily come through the wall- wouldn't it be better to crouch down? No – crouching down would deny him the flexibility to run away if the wall get further damaged. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Sunday, July 15, 2001 - 4:13 am: Only two other ship's crews have witnessed a supernova? A starship could fly faster than light and watch a star Supernova again and again. ''Jwb52z on Sunday, July 15, 2001 - 11:20 pm: ''Seeing one as it is happening when you are actually there is different than the sensors picking it up. # Janeway asks if there is any sign of supernovas and Harry reports "No. Clear sailing ahead." However, evidence of supernovas travels at the speed of light and star systems are usually several light years away from each other. The Q may have stopped their fighting, but the supernovas will be seen throughout the galaxy for as much as 100,000 years. (The galaxy is believed to be 100,000 light years wide.) Jwb52z on Sunday, July 15, 2001 - 11:20 pm: The supernova is over even if it is still seen by the light travelling in space. The sensors are not limited to the time delay factor. The sensors know that there are no supernovas actually going on at the moment. Category:Episodes Category:Voyager